Archive for the ‘human interest’ Category

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Animated Siddur

Saturday, February 4th, 2012

 One of the first and most profound challenges facing those who want to connect with their Jewish roots through prayer is to master praying with a siddur. Even after learning the Aleph Beit, it usually takes new students time before they can say prayers without making errors. Following on the success of the hugely popular “My Siddur,” is the first animated siddur, which will also have a digital version available soon.

The initial “My Siddur” project began when Chabad emissary Rivky Bloch of Plano, Texas, reported that while many students knew Aleph Beit, they found reading the actual prayers difficult. Bloch contacted fellow Chabad emissary, Rabbi Chaim Boruch Alevsky, creator of Tools for Torah and director of Chabad of the West Side, to develop a siddur that would make learning to pray easy and enjoyable. In 2008, Tools for Torah came out with “My Siddur,” the first siddur with fully transliterated prayers and an accompanying CD. “My Siddur” is available in both Ashkenazic and Sephardic pronounciations, has large, easy-to-read Hebrew letters, with words highlighted for additional elucidation and study pointers. My Siddur is currently being expanded to include Shabbat and Holiday prayers.  Rabbi Alevsky decided to build upon the success of the “My Siddur” project with the use of the latest technology. “We are expanding the printed version and leaping ahead. We’re going digital,” Rabbi Alevsky told Lubavitch.com. “This is the ultimate E-siddur. It’s multimedia in its truest sense: paper, audio, digital image and animation.”

The animated siddur includes Modeh Ani, Shema, and blessings over food, but the project will be added upon gradually, with new prayers uploaded on a weekly basis. Rabbi Alevsky is creating an App for the animated prayers that will run on mobile devices, so users can hold the animated siddur in the palm of their hands. He said the animated siddur is “a real tool to learn how to daven. You can see each syllable come to life as you hear it chanted.”

Tools for Torah offers a wide range of Jewish educational items, including CDs with recordings of songs and blessings for Jewish holidays, workbooks to enrich knowledge about holiday customs, and materials to test and expand knowledge of Chumash. The materials can be purchased for individuals, both adults and children, or in bulk for congregations and schools.
To order the animated siddur, the original “My Siddur” or other Torah materials, visit ToolsforTorah.com.  by Miriam Metzinger, miriammetz@gmail.com


Posted in human interest, Yitro #334 | No Comments »

Chabad Houses

Saturday, January 28th, 2012

Three years after the tragic attack on the Chabad House of Rivky and Gavriel Holtzberg in Mumbai, there have been occasional threats against other Chabad Houses. A Chabad House is often considered to be a place that provides physical security and spiritual comfort. This sense of security was challenged following the attacks in Mumbai, but the Israeli government, along with Chabad emissaries, are saying “Never Again” to such attacks and are making tangible steps to make good on this promise.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, shluchim began to realize they needed sophisticated security systems for their Chabad Houses, especially in vulnerable regions like India and Thailand. The costs of outfitting a Chabad House with a complete security system, however, are staggering at $60,000-80,000 per year. The Israeli government felt the task of equipping Chabad Houses with security was daunting. Thus, while the government has not provided full funding, the Mossad has been active in monitoring the situation with Chabad Houses around the world and warning emissaries of possible attacks.

Pressure for involvement of Israeli Security forces was placed by Knesset Member Eli Yishai, representing the Shas Party. Yishai spend time in Chabad Houses overseas and wanted to ensure that they remained secure places to eat, stay and worship. What developed from these talks was the “Jewish Defense Ring,” which works in conjunction with the Mossad to keep Jewish potential targets safe worldwide.

Chabad emissary Nechamia Willhelm, known to Israeli tourists as “the father of backpackers,” received a message from the Mossad that there were terrorist threats against his Chabad House in Bangkok. When he received the news, he stepped up security until the suspects were caught. One suspected terrorist was arrested for possession of explosives and the second suspect fled the country. Rabbi Willhelm told Mispacha magazine: “We all hope that after they were able to catch one member of the terror group – and they’re assuming that the other guy has already left the country – that this is behind us.” Rabbi Willhelm said that a number of visitors to his Chabad House said they felt comfortable staying there, not only because they wanted the traditional physical and spiritual warmth Chabad is known for providing, but because they felt secure knowing that security measures were taken and were successful. By Miriam Metzinger, miriammetz@gmail.com


Posted in Beshalach #333, human interest | No Comments »

Act of Caring

Sunday, January 22nd, 2012

A Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi in New Jersey has donated his kidney to a Jewish man living on a secular moshav in Israel.

There were no microphones being shoved in 29-year-old Rabbi Avi Richler’s face and no cameras snapping as he was being wheeled into the operating room. Neither did the husband and father of three, who is also the co-director of Chabad of Gloucester County, New Jersey, ask whether the Jewish recipient of the kidney he was about to donate was hareidi-religious like himself.

Recent headlines about the goings-on in Israel between fringe elements of the hareidi- religious and secular populations had, if anything, simply reinforced the rabbi’s conviction that the world needs a little more “Ahavas Yisroel” — love for one’s fellow Jew — and to “show we really mean it when we say we care about all Jews.”

Richler had read about the man, also a father of three (who prefers to remain anonymous) in an online appeal by the Ahavas Chesed Medical Emergency Hotline, based in Brooklyn, NY. The recipient, it later turned out, lives on a secular moshav in Israel.  For the two men there is simply a sense of quiet satisfaction that one Jew saved the life of another who was suffering from end-stage renal disease.

Richler is not the first Chabad rabbi to donate a kidney in recent years. “Our attitude is every Jew is our brother,” he explained in an interview with Lubavitch.com. “That sense of brotherhood is not limited to helping another Jew put on tefillin or kosher his home.”

The rabbi’s wife, Chabad of Gloucester co- director Mina Richler was unsurprised when he first approached her with his decision to donate his kidney. “Some people are blessed financially and they give charity. Some donate their time. We’ve been blessed with good health,” and a kidney to give to another, she said.

Both the recipient and the donor are reportedly doing well.  Reprinted from Arutz Sheva, www.israelnationalnews.com


Posted in Bo #332, human interest | No Comments »

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